


Of Elevators and Rivalry

by StreetSoldierin



Series: Of This and That [5]
Category: Haikyuu!!
Genre: Angst with a Happy Ending, Awkwardness, Claustrophobia, Cuddles, Elevators, Fluff, Hurt/Comfort, Iwaizumi Hajime is a Good Boyfriend, M/M, Making Up, Oikawa Tooru is a Mess, Oikawa Tooru's Knee Injury, Panic Attacks, Protective Iwaizumi Hajime, Rivalry, Seijoh deserves the world, first attempts at truce, i mean not really but sorta, kageyama is socially incompetent, original title: Room To Breathe, redemption (?), there's some mutual respect in the end, this is NOT an Oikage ship
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-05-20
Updated: 2020-05-20
Packaged: 2021-03-03 01:28:45
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 5,305
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24286657
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/StreetSoldierin/pseuds/StreetSoldierin
Summary: Oikawa gets stuck on an elevator, which in itself wouldn't be the end of the world, but then there's the teensy little problem that he's claustrophobic. Oh, and the fact that the only other person in there is Kageyama.
Relationships: Iwaizumi Hajime/Oikawa Tooru, Kageyama Tobio & Oikawa Tooru
Series: Of This and That [5]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1707133
Comments: 18
Kudos: 379





	Of Elevators and Rivalry

**Author's Note:**

  * For [Sarah](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Sarah/gifts).



> Note that the relationship between Oikawa and Kageyama portrayed in this fic is purely _platonic_ , Oikawa is perfectly happy with his Iwa-chan and the only thing that ensues in the elevator is making up (sorta), not making out.

It hurt like a bitch.

Oikawa had come to terms with the fact that his knee would always be a problem nagging at the back of his mind ever since his doctor told him to take it easy. He had even taken some time off – though not as much as he had been supposed to – to give the damned thing time to recover.

It had worked just fine ever since the incident where his leg had given out on him during training and Iwaizumi had dragged him to the doctor afterwards despite his protests and assurances that he was _fine_. Well, the doctor then refuted all that, saying his knee was, in fact, not fine, on the contrary, it was rather fucked up due to what the man had called over-exertion.   
Oikawa had only half-listened, but unfortunately – or fortunately, whatever – Iwaizumi had been there with him and internalized every word that had come out of the doctor’s mouth. Otherwise, Oikawa probably would’ve went on as if nothing happened.But it had been fine. Some days everything was perfectly normal, some days were worse and he could feel the twinge in his knee with every step he took.

Today, it hurt like a bitch.

They were in the Sendai Gymnasium and had already played and won one match, but there was one more to go and Oikawa already struggled to stand on one leg to change his uniform, which resulted in him having to sit down to do it and of course Iwaizumi noticed and as always,  he  wouldn’t let it go.

“I’ll get you some ice, dumbass. At least keep it cool until the next match.”

Everyone in the changing room was throwing them glances, all of them well aware of his injury, and he hated their looks, hated the worry in their eyes. He was their captain, for god’s sake, if anything he should worry about  _ them  _ and not the other way around.

“I’ll get it myself,  Iwa-chan ,” he replied and stood up, smile plastered on his face. He couldn’t fool Iwaizumi, he knew that, but the rest of the team was satisfied with the cheerful look on his face and went back to minding their own business.

Iwaizumi furrowed his brows, but shrugged. “Whatever. Don’t be late.”

If it wasn’t for Iwaizumi knowing how much Oikawa hated drawing attention to his knee, he probably wouldn’t have let him go just like that, and Oikawa was thankful that he didn’t say anything else.

He made his way out of the changing rooms, wearing the fresh uniform. It was their secondary uniform, the turquoise one with the white details, because they were going up against  Dateko next and their standard jerseys looked too similar to the other  school’s .  Oikawa liked the standard one better – totally not because he had been told the white color suited him – but this was fine too, anything was fine as long as he could stand on the court and wear  Seijoh’s color s proudly.

He didn’t even want to think about the fact that this was his last year being able to do so, the last chance they would get at going to nationals. He could worry about that when it was over.

The hall wasn’t particularly busy, most people were in the stands watching the match that was currently being played – the winner would be the one they were up against next, and if the situation was any different, then Oikawa would probably be watching too, but he knew that Iwaizumi was right and he should at least cool his knee before they went in to play.

With a huff he regarded the staircase – if anyone had been with him, he would probably push through and just go, but without anyone around, he allowed himself to go over to the elevator instead. He wasn’t particularly fond of elevators, and he usually took the stairs either way if just to get a little workout in, but right now he needed to save as much strength as he could.   
Just the thought of Coach Irihata switching him out made his hands twitch nervously, but he shook them out and pressed the elevator button. Nobody would take his place on the court. He’d remain there until the very last second, and neither Iwaizumi’s worried gaze nor the twinge in his knee would change that.

The elevator doors opened with a soft ping, and Oikawa had already taken a step forward when he realized it wasn’t unoccupied. He almost groaned in annoyance when he took in the sight of his probably least favorite person in the building, but he had already taken the step and Oikawa  Tooru did not back down, ever, so he stepped in fully.

Kageyama was blocking the story buttons, but as soon as Oikawa entered, he moved aside, looking uncomfortable with the situation.

“Tobio- chan ,” Oikawa drawled and pressed the button for the second floor. He wasn’t really in the mood for conversation, but first of all,  Kageyama was barely able to utter more than two coherent one-liners anyways, and second, he had a reputation to uphold. Ignoring  Kageyama would feel like backing down, and once again, Oikawa  Tooru did  _ not  _ back down. “Come to see your amazing senpai’s winning streak?”

Kageyama shuffled his feet slightly. “I’m here to play.” 

“Ah, good old Tobio-chan, always there to state the obvious.” 

The elevator doors pinged again and closed, and there was a slight lurch as it started its way upward. Kageyama stayed silent.

Oikawa had seen Karasuno play this tournament, and he had to admit they had gotten way better. The shrimp was starting to fully synch up with the rest of his team, Kageyama had actually learned to pay attention to each player individually, and everyone else seemed in good form and high spirits as well. They hadn’t lost yet from what he had heard, and if they kept it up, there was a chance they’d meet Seijoh in the semi-finals. Because Seijoh _would_ be in the semi-finals. 

Oikawa hadn’t forgotten what Iwaizumi had reprimanded him for a few years back, and when the match started, he would give all his attention to the opponent right in front of him instead of focusing on something that lay beyond, but still it didn’t change the fact that he believed in their pursuit of their goal with every fiber of his being. They would go to nationals this time, and nothing would stop them. There was no room for doubt.

He was so lost in his thoughts that he didn’t even realize what was happening when he heard the slight crunching sound. Only when Kageyama sucked in a breath and the lights started flickering did it dawn on him, and his chest tightened in a painful way as the elevator screeched and came to a halt so suddenly that it lurched him forward. He grabbed onto the rail for support and stopped himself from toppling over, hands shaking slightly as he pushed himself back up into an upright position.   
The lights flickered once again and then went out completely.

It was pitch-black in the elevator, and deadly quiet as well, at least until  Kageyama broke the silence. 

“Oikawa-san, are you okay?”

Oikawa forced his breathing into a steady rhythm, and though the darkness freaked him out even more, at least it meant  Kageyama wouldn’t be able to see his expression. He probably was pale as a ghost by now. 

“Of course I am,” he drawled, trying to sound as bored as he possibly could. His fingers twitched as if on reflex, but when they grazed the side of his shorts, he realized that he was in his uniform, which meant he didn’t have any pockets – he didn’t have his phone on him. Well, there probably wasn’t any reception in here anyways, though he couldn’t really say that that helped calm his nerves.

Since he was closer to the wall with the buttons than  Kageyama , he reached out with his hand and felt for them, trying to ignore the voice in his mind screaming at him that the emergency button wasn’t glowing like it was supposed to.

“Do you have your phone?”

There was a faint glow illuminating  Kageyama’s face, and Oikawa saw him frown.  “No reception.”

If he wasn’t so desperately trying to keep his facial expression under control, he would have rolled his eyes. “No kidding. Turn on the flashlight so I can see the emergency button.”

“Oh.”

Seconds later, light flooded the elevator and Oikawa blinked at the sudden brightness. He couldn’t really tell if this development of the situation changed it for the better or not, because on one hand the darkness that had started to flood his lungs was gone, but on the other, actually seeing the elevator made him realize how small the space they were in was, and it made him all too aware of the sturdy metal walls surrounding them.

His lungs seized painfully and he quickly returned his attention to the elevator controls on the wall, eyes landing on the red emergency button. There was a short text next to it, telling him to stay calm and press when in need of assistance – it was a little late for the staying calm part now, but he took a deep breath and pressed it and... there was some crackling, followed by static noise, then nothing.  Oikawa’s heart rate picked up as he pressed it again, just to be presented with the same result, crackling, static, silence.

“It’s not working,”  Kageyama stated.

“That’s very helpful, Tobio- chan ,” Oikawa growled in response and clutched onto the hem of his jersey to hide his shaking hands. “Yet again you prove there’s a reason we have two separate words for prodigy and genius.”

Picking a fight in an enclosed space probably wasn’t the smartest move, but right now he would take anything to distract him from the situation they were in, and there was nothing easier than riling up  Kageyama . The boy might have the emotional range of a teaspoon, but Oikawa had always known what buttons to push in order to get him angry and right now it was the only thing his panicking mind could latch onto, the familiarity of this petty brawl.

But not even that was enough to distract him from the fact that they were stuck here in this tiny metal box, and now his aching knee was starting to tremble as well and fear crept up in Oikawa’s chest as he started to wonder how much longer it would hold him upright.

Kageyama was still scowling from the comment, but his brow furrowed and his expression changed when he saw Oikawa clutch onto the low railing to support himself. “Are you okay?”

“Fabulous,” Oikawa shot back, but his tone held far less bite than he would like it to. His breath was coming shorter now, and the constipated look on Kageyama’s face wasn’t helping at all, so he tried to close his eyes to shut it out, but losing sight made his other senses go batshit crazy and he quickly opened them again when he started hearing noises he didn’t even want to think about right now.   
So now he was back to facing Kageyama who looked uncomfortable as hell and shifted his weight from one foot to the other. “They’ll notice soon. I’m supposed to play a match in half an hour.”

Right. Oikawa tried to hold onto that thought, because of course people would realize that they had disappeared, and it was only a matter of time until they would check the elevators.

_But how long?_ that little voice in his mind chimed up. They could search the entire rest of the building before thinking of the elevators. They could give up and just play the match without him. Oh shit, what if they did? What if he missed it? What if they thought he _ran_? What if...

“Oikawa-san.”

Shit  shit shit , he had lost control of his breathing. The air was being sucked out of the elevator – or had they just already used up all the oxygen in here? - and no matter how fast his breathing became, he was suffocating, his chest tightened painfully and god, he couldn’t  _ breathe _ , he couldn’t breathe and it  _ hurt _ ; his chest, his knee, his head... Black dots clouded his vision as his legs gave way and this was it, this was how it was going to end. He couldn’t even feel the impact of hitting the floor – maybe he was already gone? But then why did his knee still hurt, why... 

“Oikawa-san!”

His eyes snapped open – when had he closed them? - and the first thing he saw was  Kageyama’s wide blue eyes staring right back at him, illuminated by the pale light of the phone. They were on the floor, and  Kageyama was kneeling right next to him, hands on his shoulders to keep him upright and... Oh. So that was why the fall hadn’t hurt.

He was still wheezing, but his mind cleared up enough to understand that he was having a full-blown panic attack in front of  _ Kageyama _ __ of all people, and he lurched back like on reflex, trying to get his limbs under control again but a sharp twinge shot up his leg and he froze.

“Oikawa-san-”

“I’m  _ fine,”  _ he growled and gripped the railing with a shaking hand to pull himself back on his feet. He’d be damned if he let it get so far as to let  Kageyama comfort him. Oikawa was a master in masking his emotions, he had had years and years of practice , and he would not break now, not like this, dammit.

It was just... hiding emotions was one thing. Trying to ignore a full-fledged panic attack, that was something else. And thus his legs, the traitors, didn’t support him one bit when he tried to stand up which resulted in him doing a half pull-up on the railing before realizing his body wasn’t cooperating at all, and he sank to the ground again with a curse.

Kageyama was looking at him all awkwardly, still crouched down from where he had supported Oikawa earlier – as if he could actually help with getting Oikawa’s mind to listen, ha! If Oikawa himself couldn’t do it, then this brat sure as hell couldn’t either.

He wanted to make another snarky remark, but his throat felt way too tight and so he settled for glaring at his former  kouhai , who looked torn between being worried and getting annoyed. If there was a scale for the ability to hide emotions from one to Oikawa, then  Kageyama would be a minus ten.  Even though he probably could count the emotions he was actually able to feel and recognize on one hand, they showed so clearly on his face that it didn’t even take Oikawa’s skills in reading people to see them, even an oblivious idiot could tell what  Kageyama was thinking.

Right  now for instance, he was twitching in his spot and visibly deciding if he should keep at his attempts to  _ comfort  _ Oikawa – unbelievable! - or rather snap back at him. And since of course he had the savoir faire of a piece of bread, he did neither but just kind of stilled, glaring back at Oikawa. It really got on his already strained nerves.

They settled into this uncomfortable silence, the only sounds being Oikawa’s ragged breathing that he desperately tried to get back under control. He gave up on trying to stand and instead leaned back against the wall so he was sitting in the corner and drew his left leg up to his chest while the right one remained outstretched as not to put his knee under any more strain.   
The fear of missing the next match was still very present in the back of his mind, but it was slowly getting overshadowed by that other, far more primal fear of being trapped. The walls remained sturdy and unforgiving, though every other second, they seemed to be closing in on him inch by inch, slowly creeping closer until they would be close enough to immobilize and suffocate him.

He couldn’t do this. He needed to get out.

With a sudden surge of strength, Oikawa lashed out and his fist collided with the wall next to him, making a metallic banging sound which caused Kageyama to flinch, eyes wide, but Oikawa couldn’t bring himself to care. These walls were closing in, and he needed them to stop, he had to make them stop. The sting in his knuckles had nothing on the burning in his chest, and so he lashed out again, and again, physically forcing the metal back, back, back, because he couldn’t let it suffocate him, he couldn’t just give up like this, he had to get out, he had to...

A hand closed around his wrist in a tight grip and pulled him back. A choked noise escaped the back of Oikawa’s throat as he tried to break free, but the hand held on tight and when he blinked through the mist in front of his eyes and in his head, he realized that it was Kageyama holding him back. Of course it was, they were the only ones in here after all, trapped in this small space, bound to suffocate, stuck, stuck, stuck.   
There was a buzzing noise in his ear and it took him some moments to realize that it was Kageyama talking, but he couldn’t make out the words, could barely focus his gaze to look at him as the room kept spinning and shrinking around him and he wanted to scream, but he had no control over that anymore either just like his breathing, his lungs seized and seized and seized but there was no air, no oxygen, and god he was going to die.

“ _ Oikawa-san _ !” 

The voice was right next to him, loud and determined and he almost flinched back at the sound, blinking through the tears – when had they started to spill? - and his gaze locked with  Kageyama’s who was right in front of him now. Another futile attempt at sucking in air shook Oikawa’s frame and he dug his nails into his palms, just to realize the other boy was still holding his wrist.

“Breathe,”  Kageyama said, slowly and deadly calm somehow, and if Oikawa wasn’t  _ dying  _ right now, he might have laughed at the advice, because no shit Sherlock, as if he wasn’t trying to do that already. 

But  Kageyama shook his head and pulled Oikawa’s hand closer, and he didn’t break eye contact once when he put Oikawa’s hand on his own chest and firmly stated again, “Breathe.”

Oikawa was stunned for a second as he realized what  Kageyama was doing, and even more so when it shocked his brain into bringing his body to heel as he was able to concentrate on the feeling of  Kageyama’s chest rising and falling under his hand in a steady rhythm. It happened slowly, and faltering at first, but then a gasp rushed through him and suddenly there was  _ oxygen _ .

He pinned his gaze to his hand and watched it move with each breath, tried his best to copy the movement and felt the ache in his chest dull down, die away. His body went along with this procedure as if on autopilot, because _of course it did,_ he knew what this was, he had done it a thousand times, only that his hand was usually resting on Iwaizumi’s chest and not Kageyama’s. There was some whisper in his mind asking how Kageyama knew to do this, but he didn’t have the strength to think about that right now, breathing took up all of his concentration and so he dismissed the voice, saving it for later. He couldn’t even bring himself to care anymore that this was Kageyama, all his brain could concentrate on was desperately bringing air back into his lungs.

They sat like this for what felt like hours, and neither of them said anything, even when Oikawa’s breathing found a steady rhythm again and he wasn’t panting anymore. They just sat in silence, and at some point, Oikawa slowly lowered his hand from Kageyama’s chest, who in return let go of his wrist quickly.   
The panic was still there, lingering just beneath Oikawa’s skin, but he managed to ground himself, exhaustion dragging down on his bones and he thought that even if he wanted to have another episode, he probably wouldn’t even have the strength to do so. 

He just stared at  Kageyama , not wanting to drop his gaze because that would mean backing down, and Oikawa  Tooru did not back down, not even when he was at his lowest, not even when he had just shown his least favorite person a weakness nobody else – except Iwaizumi, of course – had ever been allowed to see. The air around him seemed fuzzy again, but it was not because of an incoming panic attack, on the contrary, he felt as if his mind was pulling back. Everything around him felt slower, unreal somehow, like he was watching from afar and not from his own eyes.

“Oikawa-san?” 

He couldn’t really bring himself to answer, only managed a short, low hum. But Kageyama stayed persistent. “Oikawa-san, tell me what Iwaizumi-san wore this morning.”

Oikawa furrowed his eyebrows a little. Iwaizumi? Why would Kageyama ask about his clothes? And what... what _had_ he been wearing? This morning, where had he been this morning, why were they here again in this elevator, why... Iwa-chan.

“Grey hoodie,” he said. His voice was quiet, much quieter than he was used to and it sounded so far away. He understood now what was happening. His mind was slipping away like it did sometimes after panic attacks, he realized it now but maybe it was too late already, maybe he couldn’t stop the dissociation anymore even though he  _ knew  _ it was happening, but his body felt so heavy and trying to straighten his thoughts out was so, so exhausting...

“How did the first match end?”

Oikawa dug his nails into his palms. He needed to pull it together, he needed to fight his way back.

“ Dewaichi High,” he ground out. “We took the first two sets.”

Because they were at Sendai City Gymnasium, and they were here to go to nationals, and he needed to get his shit together,  _ right now. _

They kept going like this, Kageyama asking stupid little questions and Oikawa answering them one by one, until his mind wasn’t all clogged up anymore and he finally felt like he was _there_ again instead of somewhere in a limbo state between his body and the ceiling. Kageyama didn’t ask anything personal, just stupid stuff like what he had for lunch yesterday, and he didn’t mention anything about Oikawa’s current state either. They just kept going and going until there was an electric humming noise, making both of them go quiet. 

And then, the elevator lurched, making Oikawa’s heart miss a beat, but then it slowly started descending downwards and finally came to a halt. Oikawa almost cried out in relief when he heard the soft ping of the doors, and then they opened.

His eyes found Iwaizumi immediately. The other was towering over a man in suit, staring him down with a glare that Oikawa was sure would make him drop dead if it was directed at him. When he heard the elevator doors though, the scowl on Iwaizumi’s face disappeared, making way for another expression as he whirled around and started jogging towards him.

“Oikawa!”

Oikawa mustered up a smile – Iwaizumi wouldn’t fall for it, he knew he wouldn’t, but there was a small crowd of people besides the man in the suit, who looked more than just relieved that Iwaizumi had taken his attention off him.

The latter crouched down in front of Oikawa now, brows drawn together in worry as he stared right through Oikawa’s eyes into his soul. “Are you hurt?”

“No,” Oikawa replied and Iwaizumi offered him a hand, pulling him to his feet.

Oikawa’s knee still ached and he didn’t trust his body a hundred percent yet, but Iwaizumi didn’t even ask before wrapping an arm around his shoulders. To anyone else it might have looked like just a friendly gesture, but Iwaizumi’s grip was a little too tight for that, and Oikawa knew he was doing this to steady him. Any other situation he probably would have squirmed free and insisted he was fine, but right now he didn’t find the strength to do so. He never wanted to leave Iwaizumi’s comforting side.

“We were worried when you didn’t come back,” Iwaizumi said as they stepped out of the elevator, "but the medics said you hadn’t even arrived there, and then we tried the elevators and saw they weren’t working. Of course, you could have just called for help if  _ someone _ ...” he glared at the man in the suit who seemed to shrink into half his size, “...wasn’t too lazy to replace the broken emergency com.”

The man didn’t even try to defend himself, so Oikawa imagined he and Iwaizumi h ad already been through this, and from the looks of it, Iwaizumi had either threatened to kill or sue him to hell and  back . Or both. This was his  Iwa-chan after all.

But still, there were other people around: The coaches, Karasuno’s captain and vice captain along with the orange haired shrimp, two technicians who were currently packing their tools, and Makki and Mattsun next to Coach Irihata. 

So Oikawa threw on a smile and shrugged it off. “Ah, it’s fine  Iwa -chan. Nothing happened, after all.”

His gaze found  Kageyama , and the younger boy stared right back at him. For a split second, Oikawa was worried he would say something about what had really happened in the elevator, but he kept his mouth shut and just watched him.

And as they looked at each other, something unclenched in Oikawa’s chest, some old, bitter feeling that had been there a long time, fading a little. They didn’t break eye contact, until finally Kageyama gave a little nod, and Oikawa returned it.  
It was a mutual agreement, unspoken and yet they both knew exactly what it meant, and maybe, just maybe, Oikawa felt a little relieved.

* * *

When Iwaizumi and Oikawa sat on the bed in Iwaizumi’s room that evening, it didn’t take long until Iwaizumi came back to the topic. “So, long day, huh?”

Oikawa smiled. He already knew what was coming, but that didn’t mean he had to help the conversation along. “Sure was,  Iwa -chan. But I think we can be happy with the results.”

“Agreed. So, are you finally  gonna tell me what happened in the elevator?”

Chuckling, Oikawa nudged Iwaizumi with the foot he had thrown across the other’s lap. “What, are you jealous? Tobio- chan and I did not have a making out session, I can assure you.”

Iwaizumi just groaned in annoyance. “You know what I mean.”

“Do I?”

Iwaizumi sighed and turned so he was facing Oikawa properly. “Yes. You’re claustrophobic, and you just spent an  _ hour  _ trapped in an elevator with probably not your favorite person in the world.”

“That’s a slight understatement,” Oikawa muttered, but gave in. “Fine. It was really weird, okay? I started freaking out and  Kageyama looked so  _ awkward  _ so that wasn’t really helping, but... I don’t know, when I started panicking for real, he came at me with some grounding techniques.”

Iwaizumi raised an eyebrow. “He did?”

“I know right,” Oikawa sighed and draped an arm over his eyes. “Who would have guessed that someone with the social skills of a raisin actually has some knowledge on how to handle panic attacks. But it worked.”

“Huh,” Iwaizumi muttered and started dragging his hand through Oikawa’s hair, earning himself a whine. “Shut up, idiot, it’s not like anyone will see your hair anymore today. Anyways, I was surprised when the elevator finally came down and you seemed mostly calm, but that explains that then, I guess.”

“You don’t need to worry so much,  Iwa -chan. It’ll just give you wrinkles.”

That was met with a punch to his arm and he gasped in feigned shock. “Shut up. How can I  _ not  _ worry over someone who’s as shit at taking care of himself as you? ”

“Rude,  Iwa-chan !”

“Deal with it.” Then his gaze softened a little. “Seriously though, are you okay?”

The match they had played after had been fine, and they had managed to win without much difficulty, but of course Iwaizumi had picked up on the fact that Oikawa wasn’t on top of his game after the elevator incident. He always noticed.

“I’m okay,” Oikawa answered honestly. “I’ve just been thinking a lot since this afternoon, and honestly, I was a little confused about what I was feeling at first. I mean, I don’t like  Kageyama , god knows I don’t, but...” He sighed. “You keep telling me I need to change  perspective when it comes to judging people, and I guess I finally realized there’s truth in that.”

“How do you mean?”

“He’s an insufferable little brat, and he knows I don’t like him and I think the feeling is mutual, so I was worried he might use this as leverage, but he didn’t. He doesn’t. And hell, it’s not like I want to hug and be friends now, just...” Iwaizumi smirked, and Oikawa whined and punched him in the arm. “Stop laughing at me, you know exactly what I mean.”

“I’m not laughing at you,” Iwaizumi replied and pulled him into a sitting position so they were facing each other on eye level, strong arms snaking around Oikawa’s waist and holding him there. “I think it’s good you realized that. You’re quick to antagonize people, and seeing that  Kageyama isn’t your mortal enemy is a step in the right direction.”

Oikawa just huffed and buried his face in Iwaizumi’s neck. “We’re still going to crush them on the court.”

Iwaizumi snorted a laugh and pulled him closer. They both knew Oikawa wasn’t ready to admit that maybe he had gained a little bit of respect for Kageyama today – and he sure as hell wasn’t going to tell him, it was still Kageyama after all! - but feeling this hatred transform into something more neutral... it did lift some weight off Oikawa’s shoulders.   
He never could shake the feeling of being chased, as if someone was constantly on his heels waiting to surpass him, but seeing this other side of Kageyama made him somewhat realize that the younger boy wasn’t out for his blood, and that made breathing a little easier somehow.

“You know...” Iwaizumi started, tone teasing. “Maybe you should try riding the elevator with  Ushiwaka someday.”

At that, Oikawa scrunched up his face and pushed against his shoulder, sending them both toppling over so he fell on  Iwaizumi’s chest that was shaking with laughter. “That’s not funny,  Iwa-chan !”

“Yeah, it  kinda is.”

“Shut up!”

But when Oikawa bent down to kiss Iwaizumi to stop his dumb mouth from laughing, he couldn’t help but smile a little himself. As horrifying at the experience itself had been, he felt different now, and he couldn’t say it was a negative feeling. Because despite the knowledge that they would have more matches tomorrow, matches that would decide over their team advancing to nationals or not – he wasn’t afraid. There was no ghost of someone chasing after him, no urge to look over his shoulder constantly, no trembling in his hands and no wrenching feeling in his stomach.  
He was here, with his boyfriend, and the light feeling in his chest came as easy as the laughter. 

He wasn’t dreading  tomorrow, he was excited for it.

**Author's Note:**

> If you spotted the one tiny Harry Potter reference, kudos to you!
> 
> The original title was "Room To Breathe", but since I like to put my oneshots into my "Of This and That" series, I had to change it. I still think the original fits this fic really well, that's why I put it in the tags.
> 
> I left the ending as it is intentionally because I wanted to keep this mostly canon compliant (even though the canon is so very cruel to our boys), so it has kind of an open ending. If you wanna imagine Seijoh going to nationals after this, feel free to do so (you can bet that _I_ am doing exactly that. I've rewatched all of Haikyuu a dozen times, but never the last few episodes of the second season. I wouldn't be caught dead watching that soul-crushing tear fest again)
> 
> Anyways, I hope you enjoyed this, and if you wanna leave kudos and/or comments, I'll be forever thankful! xx


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